As Refineries Ramp Up after Harvey, Another Hurricane Could Hit U.S. this Week

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast are returning to service following the devastation of Hurricane Harvey. But another threat is brewing: Hurricane Irma, which is forming in the Atlantic Ocean and heading west. Whether it will make landfall this week is unknown, as there is a possibility it could turn north and avoid the U.S. Mid-Atlantic coast. But it is just as possible that it could hit Florida and the lower Mid-Atlantic, or swoop over Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and Cuba and hit the Gulf of Mexico.

Industrial Info is tracking progress at a dozen refineries and more than 400 chemical-processing facilities in Florida, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Cuba and the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region, which are among the areas currently most likely to be affected by Hurricane Irma.

IIR Energy has organized a summary of Harvey's impact on the power, chemical, petroleum refining and gas processing assets in its path. Click here to download the Hurricane Harvey Impact Report.

Irma is forecast to remain over the tropical Atlantic Ocean as a major hurricane through early Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Irma became a Category 3 on Friday. Forecasters are warning that it could become extremely dangerous, possibly reaching Category 5--one degree higher than Harvey when it was at its worst. Last week, in a period of 24 hours, its wind speeds nearly doubled from 60 to 115 miles per hour.

UPDATE: Hurricane Irma strengthened to a Category 5 storm as of Tuesday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center said, with sustained winds of roughly 175 miles per hour. It is expected to hit the northern Caribbean with flooding rain and damaging winds; areas very likely to be affected are the northern Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and, later in the week, Cuba.

In Texas, some facilities are ramping up production and are expected to resume full production this week in the aftermath of Harvey. Flint Hills Resources Limited Partnership (Wichita, Kansas) began restarting the West side of its 210,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) refining complex in Corpus Christi, Texas, last week, when CITGO Petroleum Corporation (Houston, Texas) began restarting the East side of its 165,000-BBL/d refining complex in Corpus Christi. Both facilities are scheduled to return to normal operations this week. For more information, see Industrial Info's plant profiles for the Flint Hills and CITGO facilities.

Other major facilities remain offline for the near term. Motiva Enterprises (Houston) is expected to keep its entire 600,000-BBL/d refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, which is the largest refinery in the U.S., offline until Mid-September. Royal Dutch Shell's (NYSE:RDS.A) (The Hague, Netherlands) 340,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) refinery in Deer Park, Texas, does not expect to restart units until Sunday, September 17; some units may be down for an extended period after damage assessments are completed. For more information, see Industrial Info's plant profiles for the Motiva and Deer Park facilities.

Closed refineries and stopped pipelines drove up gasoline prices last week, and the effects quickly went beyond U.S. borders. According to Fortune, two East Coast refiners, Philadelphia Energy Solutions and Irving Oil, ran out of gasoline for immediate delivery as they hurried out supplies to the U.S. Southeast region, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.